It's been a good day

I jumped out of bed - then remembered where I was and wished I hadn't jumped and hit my head. Okay, I crawled out of bed and carefully stepped on to the three step ladder that allows me access to my upper berth. After performing my daily ablution, I rolled the bike out of the trailer and headed for the Senior Citizen Center for the pancake feed.

Two large pancakes, three eggs to order, a large slice of ham, OJ and coffee for five bucks. I'm stuffed. The two ladies that run the center set their sights on me and told me more than I needed to know about the center and how they revived it after the director had run up huge debts and then disappeared. They seemed worried that I hadn't been eating enough because they told me that they had meals every day of the week at a reasonable price and dances on the last Wednesday of the month.

I made my escape and found my way to Main Street in time to find a spot in the shade for the parade. I hadn't noticed that I was in front of the bar and as the parade started the bar emptied out in to the perfect little area that I had staked out. Moving to the other side of the street, away from the cigarette smoke and boozy breath, I settled in to watch the color guard (a seven year old girl did a nice rendition of the national anthem) and the politicians and the old cars and the horses. No bands, no bagpipes (Gram would have been soooo disappointed), one float, a bunch of ladies in red hats on a flat bed truck having a good time and a bunch of bikers.

I ride a motorcycle - I'm not a biker, don't pretend to be. Most of these guys were posers, pretending to be one percenters. They turned a pleasant parade in to a mess of loud pipes, screeching tires and burning rubber. The only thing more offending to my ears were all of the sirens.

The kids won't need any candy until Halloween. Every car that went by threw large handfuls of sugary treats to the curbs on both sides of the street. The kids didn't even have to get up to chase the candy.


The parade was followed by the bed racers charging down the street. I don't think anyone was hurt, but there was opportunity for injury. As the races ended the crowds ambled to the park for the "Battle of the Bands". I wasn't ready for punk rock before lunch.


The salmon bake was scheduled to start at 1 but I knew I had eaten enough to last the day, so I wandered through the vendors stalls in the park, resisted the temptation of pirate swords and cowboy hats, found my bike and returned to the RV park.


I noticed a gathering of guys dressed in NASCAR gear and knew I had stumbled in to a group of fellow car nuts. We decided to take over the adult play house (true fact) and watch the race from Daytona. It was a typical restrictor plate race - uneventful until the last 20 laps, then ending in a big crash. It was nice to sit with a bunch of race fans and enjoy a race.


Now we are all listening to the Mariners, waiting for the fireworks that should start around 10. It's been a good day.